It is Sunday and as I look out onto Rue Saint Dominique, I can see our Patisserie is closed and we are in need of a lovely baguette for breakfast. We have developed the routine of fresh bread, cheese and coffee as the first satisfying act of the day ( after the shower that is). As a consequence it was a visit to the only bread shop open, the local supper market; first one sold out, second had that hard crust, the one that challenges the chewer. Today with Carrefors Orange Marmalade and a Blue de Bresse cheese supported by our Puissant purple No 11 coffee capsule we have the most moorish breakfast; it was good but bad for us.

It was meant to be a sleep in day so it was close to 1100hrs before we left to walk to the Metro La Tour-Maubourg for the 8 station ride to Ballard. The plan was to walk the 15th Arrondissement.

Initially, we concluded the outer limits of the area were very much residential; high rise apartments of new and not so new designs with fewer cafes/ restaurants but plenty of super markets.

We criss crossed the Arrondissement focused on a number of parks of good size which for a Sunday were well patronised by local families gathered for lunch. The day was warm and sunny so they must have been seen as a good refuge from confined living.

The first park we visited was the Parc Georges Brassens, this park was large for the area and had a number of interesting items of play equipment for children; the brick wall designed as a quarry wall was original and the water feature with fountain and clock tower were also interesting. People were gathered in groups throughout the many shaded areas.

As we passed through the Square Adolphe Cherioux we came across the Marie de 15th Arrondissement and while substantial in size, it could not match the ornate qualities show by the Marie de 10th Arrondissement. The restaurants nearby were possibly the first we would have felt comfortable dining at, since we started this walk, primarily as the feel was more friends and family.

Having first visited the Parc Georges Brassens we concluded the most impressive of these outer parks was the next in our travels, the Square Saint-Lambert with the Eiffel Tower as a back drop to its more prominent water feature.

At the square Charles Michels, a Sunday market of mainly household goods was in progress. It appeared to be the place to clear the surplus household effects; a food area stood quite separate.

We continued on in the direction of the Tower and the Champ de Mars and felt a little at home when we arrived at the overhead tracks of the Metro on Boulevard de Grenelle. Eighteen months earlier we had been researching accomodation in the area and had became very familiar with the prominent above ground Metro station Dupliex as a reference point. Today had been market day and stalls had been set up below the tressels. Unfortunately the market was in the final stages of clean up and we did not get to witness although it appeared to have been large.

We stopped at a corner cafe for a beer and wine and watched the council workers clear the significant amounts of rubbish; they appeared to have done it many times before and had a defined routine. Rubbish is obviously a significant problem in Paris and throughout our stay we have watched the army of workers try to overcome; recognising it's difficulty.

We continued on through to the Place Dupleix and were interested to find a complete complex of modern appartments over looking Jardin Nicole de Hauteclocque. From an external perspective they were concealed within an outer perimeter of older buildings; it was only when looking through the entry to the skate park that these lines of modern apartment created their own presence.

After we passed through the Champ Des Mars, noting the Monument des Droits de l'Homme we made our way to what is the end of the Rue Saint Dominique nearby. We stuck to the road heading back to "home" noting that the more affluent area of the 7th Arrondissement must lie between de Mars and Avenue Bosquet. It now appears we are on the wrong side of the tracks; even though we have nothing to complain about.

It was after 1630 hrs that we returned with dinner that we had sourced on the way. We rested until 1915 hrs where upon we had dinner a wine and closed down for the night. Tired again but enjoying Paris